Aquatic Ecology: Closing date: April 27th, 2018. Start date: by July 1st if possible. Salary: $46-48K/annually, plus benefits. The Stream and River Ecology Laboratory (u.osu.edu/strive/) at The Ohio State University is seeking a Post-Doctoral Research Associate to contribute to an EPA-STAR-funded project on harmful algal blooms in the upper Ohio River Basin. The incumbent will be expected to contribute to studies of the ecological impacts of nutrient enrichment in streams, rivers, and reservoirs (from individuals to food webs to ecosystem functions), including field, experimental (e.g., mesocosms), and lab work. In addition, the incumbent will be expected to assist with the analysis of data as well as the preparation of reports, articles, and associated project deliverables. In addition to contributing to the project described above, the incumbent will be expected to pursue additional, complementary research. The incumbent will be based at the Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park (u.osu.edu/orwrpramsar/) and will be mentored by Dr. Mažeika Sullivan, with opportunities to work with project co-PIs Dr. Lauren Pintor and Dr. Kaiguang Zhao. Strong statistical and programming skills, preferably with R, are required. Interest in teaching within the Aquatic Sciences curriculum is highly desirable. Applicants must have completed and defended their Ph.D. by the start of the appointment. Interested applicants should submit the following: (1) Cover letter, C.V., and the names and contact information for three references; (2) Unofficial transcripts; and (3) Examples of published work. Funding is available for two years. For more information or to apply, contact Dr. Sullivan @ sullivan.191@osu.edu.

We’re eager to get started on a newly funded, 3-year, ~$700K grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. Our project focuses on nutrient enrichment and harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Ohio River catchments of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, with a particular focus on non-agricultural freshwaters. This research is in collaboration with Drs. Lauren Pintor and Kai Zhao.

Specifically, we propose to develop a watershed classification system to diagnose and manage harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the upper Ohio River basin. The goal is a multi-scale, hierarchical tool that links climate and land-use with river physicochemical gradients and ecological condition to predict and prevent HABs. The resulting classification system will be presented in a framework that can be used by managers as a regular part of watershed planning and risk assessment efforts to prevent and predict HABs. This management tool represents a novel application of theoretical knowledge of hierarchical processes in watersheds and an innovative approach to predicting and managing HABs.

Conceptual model of relationships to be tested and used to develop multi-scale, hierarchical management tool.

In particular, our focus in on carbapenem drugs, which are often the antimicrobial therapy of choice to treat life-threatening invasive gram negative infections. The emergence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) represents a critically important threat to public health. CRE are known to emerge in healthcare settings in response to frequent antimicrobial use and disseminate through environments that provide appropriate selection pressure. Our working hypothesis is that waste from metropolitan medical centers regularly transports CRE to wastewater treatment plants where they are maintained and ultimately discharged into surface waters, which may then serve as a reservoir for widespread dissemination of these highly resistant organisms. Study systems include the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers of central and southern Ohio.

The School of Environment & Natural Resources, Honors and Undergraduate Research Program has awarded Katherine Harris funding to support her undergraduate research project. Congrats Kate!

Kate, a member of the Stream and River Ecology (STRIVE) lab and undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science, is studying stress responses of a common stream fish – Creek Chub (Semotilus atromachulatus; see photo below, by Brian Gratwicke) – to temperature variability of urban streams. Kate will be housing fish and running her experiment in aquatic habitat tanks (see below) in the STRIVE Wetlab at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.

There are thousands of dams throughout the rivers of the U.S., and they affect two essential aspects of the way rivers work: the natural flow of the river is disrupted, and the connection of upstream-to-downstream habitats are severed, impeding the movement of fish, macroinvertebrates and other aquatic organisms. However, the number of dams that are being decommissioned and removed is accelerating, and once the dam is gone, river channels and their floodplains are being restored to improve water quality, reconnect upstream and downstream habitats, and return the river to a more natural flow regime. Here in Columbus, the 75-year-old 5th Avenue dam on the Olentangy River (pictured above left) was removed in the fall of 2012, clearing the way for the river channel and floodplain to be restored (right next to Ohio Stadium on the OSU campus, see pictures below). We have been following several ecological responses of the river and its restoration after dam removal. One aspect of the river we tracked was the macroinvertebrate community, which is often used as an indicator of water quality.

Check out our new article about how macroinvertebrate communities responded after the 5th Avenue dam was removed:

Abstract: Dam removal is an increasingly popular restoration tool, but our understanding of ecological responses to dam removal over time is still in the early stages. We quantified seasonal benthic macroinvertebrate density, taxonomic composition, and functional traits for three years after lowhead dam removal in three reaches of the Olentangy River (Ohio, USA): two upstream of former dam (one restored, one unrestored), and one downstream of former dam. Macroinvertebrate community density, generic richness, and Shannon–Wiener diversity decreased between ∼9 and ∼15 months after dam removal; all three variables consistently increased thereafter. These threshold responses were dependent on reach location: density and richness increased ∼15 months after removal in upstream reaches versus ∼19 months downstream of the former dam. Initial macroinvertebrate density declines were likely related to seasonality or life-history characteristics, but density increased up to 2.27× from year to year in three out of four seasons (late autumn, early spring, summer) across all reaches. Macroinvertebrate community composition was similar among the three reaches, but differed seasonally based on non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Seasonal differences among communities tended to decrease after dam removal. We detected community-wide shifts in functional traits such as multivoltinism, depositional habitat use, burrowing, and collector-gatherer feeding mode. We observed that these traits were expressed most strongly with Chironomidae, which was the most abundant family. Our results suggest that seasonal environmental conditions can play a role in the response and recovery of macroinvertebrate communities—often used to monitor ecosystem condition—following dam removal. In particular, macroinvertebrate density and diversity can show recovery after dam removal, especially in seasons when macroinvertebrate density is typically lowest, with concomitant changes to functional trait abundance. Thus, we recommend scientists and managers consider responses to dam removal throughout the year. Further, similar density, generic richness, and functional traits among reaches suggest that channel restoration after dam removal may initially have equivocal effects on invertebrate communities.

Congrats to Bobby Davis, who recently defended and submitted his MSc thesis: Monitoring fish-community contaminant body burdens following lowhead dam removal in an urban river system. Bobby is now located in Washington, D.C., where he has started his new position with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the aquaculture division of the food team, where he’ll be working on markets-based incentives programs to minimize the environmental impacts of aquaculture operations. Best of luck!

We’re thrilled to host Dr. Caryn Vaughn, Presidential Professor of Biology and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Vaughn will be speaking this afternoon as part of our SENR Seminar Series. The title of her talk is: “Consumer Aggregations Act as Hotspots of Ecosystem Services in Rivers”. See announcement here: vaughn-flyer-2

There was an American alligator sighted in the Olentangy River on campus yesterday (08/23) and again this morning (08/24). USDA has been notified and the alligator has now been captured (37″, 80 lbs) and will be sent to a sanctuary in South Carolina.

Alayna successfully defended her MS thesis, “Short-term consequences of lowhead-dam removal for fish community dynamics in an urban river system” last Wed. May 4th and submitted her approved thesis this Tuesday. Alayna will be presenting some of her results at the upcoming Society for Freshwater Science meeting in Sacramento later this month. Nice job Alayna and best of luck in your next adventure!

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